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Retinal cone and rod photoreceptor cells exhibit differential susceptibility to light‐induced damage
Author(s) -
Okano Kiichiro,
Maeda Akiko,
Chen Yu,
Chauhan Vishal,
Tang Johnny,
Palczewska Grazyna,
Sakai Tsutomu,
Tsuneoka Hiroshi,
Palczewski Krzysztof,
Maeda Tadao
Publication year - 2012
Publication title -
journal of neurochemistry
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.75
H-Index - 229
eISSN - 1471-4159
pISSN - 0022-3042
DOI - 10.1111/j.1471-4159.2012.07647.x
Subject(s) - retinal , retina , retinal degeneration , abca4 , biology , stargardt disease , macular degeneration , visual phototransduction , retinal pigment epithelium , anatomy , microbiology and biotechnology , ophthalmology , neuroscience , medicine , genetics , biochemistry , phenotype , gene
J. Neurochem. (2012) 121 , 146–156. Abstract All‐ trans ‐retinal and its condensation‐products can cause retinal degeneration in a light ‐ dependent manner and contribute to the pathogenesis of human macular diseases such as Stargardt’s disease and age ‐ related macular degeneration. Although these toxic retinoid by ‐ products originate from rod and cone photoreceptor cells, the contribution of each cell type to light ‐ induced retinal degeneration is unknown. In this study, the primary objective was to learn whether rods or cones are more susceptible to light ‐ induced, all ‐ trans ‐ retinal ‐ mediated damage. Previously, we reported that mice lacking enzymes that clear all ‐ trans ‐ retinal from the retina, ATP ‐ binding cassette transporter 4 and retinol dehydrogenase 8, manifested light‐induced retinal dystrophy. We first examined early‐stage age ‐ related macular degeneration patients and found retinal degenerative changes in rod‐rich rather than cone‐rich regions of the macula. We then evaluated transgenic mice with rod ‐ only and cone ‐ like ‐ only retinas in addition to progenies of such mice inbred with Rdh8 −/− Abca4 −/− mice. Of all these strains, Rdh8 −/− Abca4 −/− mice with a mixed rod – cone population showed the most severe retinal degeneration under regular cyclic light conditions. Intense light exposure induced acute retinal damage in Rdh8 −/− Abca4 −/− and rod ‐ only mice but not cone ‐ like ‐ only mice. These findings suggest that progression of retinal degeneration in Rdh8 −/− Abca4 −/− mice is affected by differential vulnerability of rods and cones to light.